There’s a Spanish saying: ‘Nunca es tarde si la dicha es buena.’ It loosely translates as ‘It’s never too late if the outcome is good,’ and it’s the perfect way to sum up the story of this custom Yamaha XJ650.
The bike belongs to 47-year-old José Montes, and it’s his first custom motorcycle build. “I’m not a mechanic, nor do I work in the motorcycle world professionally,” José tells us, “but motorcycles and cars have been my passion since I was a teenager. I’ve been following your website for years, and it inspired me to build my own motorcycle.”
José lives in Salamanca, a northwestern Spanish city famed for its ornate 16th-century sandstone buildings. He works as a computer engineer and dedicates most of his off-time to his young family. So work on the Yamaha was limited to weekend evenings and vacation days.
Between his limited garage time, and the shoddy state that the 1984-model donor bike was in, it took José four years to bring his vision to life. “I checked every screw, gasket, bearing, piston, piston ring, and spring, and built a ton of parts by hand,” he says.
Like most Japanese bikes from the 80s, the Yamaha XJ650 was a melting pot of technologies that were new at the time, and some that were on their way out. Its 653 cc four-cylinder engine featured double overhead cams, two valves per cylinder, and a shaft drive, with an output of 71 hp and 57 Nm. It boasted twin front disc brakes, but still used a good old drum brake at the back.
The XJ650’s aesthetic was very 80s, with awkward angles and funky split-spoke wheels. José’s job was to fix everything that was broken, and shed the original look for something classier.
All of the aging XJ’s bodywork was binned. It now wears a vintage Kawasaki KZ fuel tank, attached to the frame via custom mounts. José chose a Yamaha FJR1300 color for the paint and finished it off with Yamaha badges.
A slim saddle sits out back, supported by a svelte handmade subframe. Rather than fit a traditional fender to the bike’s tail, José fabricated a sleek aluminum cowl that adds just the right amount of visual length, while providing space to mount the important stuff. It holds a Highsider taillight, a custom-made license plate bracket, and a pair of LED turn signals.
The luxe red leather seat upholstery is the only task on this project that José outsourced. Lower down, a bespoke electronics tray holds a Lithium battery, a Motogadget brain, and the bike’s crucial electrical components. The wiring loom is all-new, with most of it running inside the frame and handlebars to keep things tidy.
The Yamaha has also ditched its key in favor of a Motogadget RFID ignition, and uses an analog and digital combination speedo, also from Motogadget. Biltwell Inc. handlebars sit up top, fitted with Renthal grips, Motogadget mirrors, and Motone push-buttons. Custom brackets hold the speedo, a Koso headlight, and the front turn signals.
The bike is littered with small handmade details, from the aluminum front fender mounts to the passenger peg brackets. José also upgraded the Yamaha’s suspension with new fork internals and rear shocks, all from YSS. The shocks are 40 mm longer than stock, and the forks have been lowered by 30 mm with 3D-printed bushings.
The XJ650’s wheels have been finished in black, and its engine looks clean enough to eat off. It inhales through a row of K&N filters, mounted on 3D-printed intakes. The elegant four-into-one exhaust is from Marving, but José has modified it to meet Spain’s roadworthy requirements.
Shod with Bridgestone Battlax BT46 rubber, José’s Yamaha XJ650 balances the charm of a retro roadster with the attitude of a bike that gets ridden often. It might be garage-built, but it shows the sort of consideration that you’d expect from a seasoned pro.
“All the handmade parts were built by me, learning techniques I was unfamiliar with,” says José. “I’m very proud of the bike I was able to build—despite the time it took. I enjoyed turning every screw and making every piece.”
“During the process, I created my own brand, Kernel Motor Company, after the computer term ‘kernel.’ By publishing on Bike EXIF, I simply want to close the cycle. I’m not looking for sales or notoriety—I just want to show the world what I’ve been able to build.”
Kernel Motor Company | Images by Luis F. Lorenzo at the Museo del Hormigón
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